Amesbury, Mass. - December 15, 2011 - Will Turner announced today that Dirk Mueller, Joerg Mueller and Dirk Werner will drive for Turner Motorsport's 2012 Rolex 24 at Daytona effort. The three BMW Motorsport drivers will join Bill Auberlen, Billy Johnson, Paul Dalla Lana, Michael Marsal and Boris Said in two Prep 2 GT class BMW M3s for Turner's third run for a Rolex watch in the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

"For the 50th Rolex 24 at Daytona I wanted to assemble the strongest BMW driver lineup I could," said Will Turner. "I think the Turner Motorsport roster stands on its own as one of the strongest ever. I want to thank BMW Motorsport for their support and assistance. Last year we ran strong in the opening hours of the race before gearbox problems set us back. This year we return with two M3s on the back of a very successful 2011 Grand-Am season that included two GT victories. With luck we will add the team's biggest win to date."

The Turner driver roster represents many of BMW's greatest 24-hour race victories worldwide. Synonymous with BMW racing for many years in the United States, Auberlen and Said co-drove a BMW M3 to the GT class win at the Rolex 24 in both 1997 and 1998. Said became the first American to win the 24 Hours of Nurburgring with his BMW Motorsport drive in 2005. One year earlier, Dirk Mueller, Joerg Mueller and the legendary Hans J. Stuck won the Nurburgring 24. Joerg Mueller was also part of the driving team that won the race in 2010. His first 24 hour win for BMW came at the Spa 24 in 1996. Dirk Werner has three 24 hour race victories in a BMW Z4 ; the Silverstone 24 in 2007 and the Dubai 24 in 2007 and 2008 driving a Z4 M Coupe.

Dirk Mueller and Dirk Werner are also no strangers to Grand-Am competition. Werner won the GT driver's title for Porsche in both 2007 and 2009. Mueller has twice finished second in the Rolex 24 in 1998 and 1999, also driving for Porsche. Joerg Mueller has one previous start in the Rolex 24.

Billy Johnson began his professional racing career as one of the first group of Formula BMW USA junior scholarship drivers in 2004. Johnson co-drove with Paul Dalla Lana in three GT races for Turner Motorsport last year with a best finish of fourth at Montreal.

BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR NEXT BMW, PM ME FIRST WE CAN HOOK YOU UP!David Aviles: bmwdavid@icloud.com - Cell:202-262-2900
If you have any issues getting a hold of David PLEASE PM me, I'm available everyday till 545pm!

Does anyone know the 2 classes of cars Turner Motorsport ran M3s with last season? I saw them race twice last year at Laguna Seca and I believe they were running an M3 a class above the normal GTs and it was absolutely badass. It was one of the loudest cars on the track so I am assuming it was a higher class.

Does anyone know the 2 classes of cars Turner Motorsport ran M3s with last season? I saw them race twice last year at Laguna Seca and I believe they were running an M3 a class above the normal GTs and it was absolutely badass. It was one of the loudest cars on the track so I am assuming it was a higher class.

They run 2 GS M3's which are stock chassis, stock body M3's with the 4L V8

Then there are the 2 GT cars that is a tube chassis, carbon fiber body parts, big rear wing, which runs the 5L out of the E39 M5

They already ran the BMW 200 yesterday and they placed 6/7 if memory serves me correct. Fall Line who runs M3s with M3 bits placed 2 and 3 I think..

Edit: From Grand Am
BMW Performance 200: The Stats
GS 1st: Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr., No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 R
GS 2nd: Charles Putman and Charles Espenlaub, No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3
GS 3rd: Bryan Sellers and Mark Boden, No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3
ST 1st: Pierre Kleinubing and Jayson Clunie, No. 31 iMoto/Cybernation.net Mazda Speed 3
ST 2nd: Nic Jonsson and Andy Lally, No. 10 Kia Motors American Kia Forte Koup
ST 3rd: Gregory Liefooghe and David A. Levine, No. 81 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i
Margin of Victory: 1.061 seconds (overall); .021 seconds (ST)
Average Speed: 109.365 mph (overall); 101.926 mph (ST)
Cautions: Six for 25 laps
Noteworthy
The defending Rolex 24-winning No. 01 TELMEX/Target BMW Riley of Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal and Joey Hand did not participate in Friday's two Rolex Series practice sessions, with the team competing its pre-race preparations on Thursday evening.
Both of Friday's Rolex Series practice sessions were held in light rain, with many of the teams opting to sit out most or all of the practice since the forecast for the remainder of the weekend calls for dry conditions.
A.J. Foyt was schedule to serve as Grand Marshal for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 but will be unable to attend the race due to recovery from recent surgery.
Jack Roush Jr. and Billy Johnson - Friday's winners of the BMW Performance 200 - completed only two laps in the 2011 season opener and finished 37th in the 2010 event.
The Daytona International Speedway infield reached its spectator capacity at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning.
The BMW Performance 200 will be televised on SPEED on Sunday, Feb. 4, at noon ET.
The Numbers:
.015 seconds - Andrew Davis' GT pole-winning margin over Jeff Segal
2 - Number of laps led by Street Tuner winner Pierre Kleinubing
6 - Cars within seven-tenths of a second in DP qualifying
17 - Consecutive Rolex Series races led by Ricky Taylor
52 - Number of cars finishing on the lead lap of the BMW Performance 200
109.405 - Speed of Charles Espenlaub's fastest race lap in the BMW Performance 200
The Quotes:
"It's good to get all the drama out of the way before the race. We got everything finished last night, so we didn't even run today. Steve (engine builder Dinan) says everything is fine and he has no concerns. If he feels OK, I'm OK." Scott Pruett, No. 01 TELMEX/Target BMW/Riley
"While being on the pole doesn't mean much in the long run in the Rolex 24, I'm very disappointed not to win it. If you're a racer and you're not on the pole, that's not good enough. We're very hungry. I'm really happy with my situation coming into the Rolex 24. I'm happy to have the teammates I want - John (Pew), AJ (Allmendinger) and Justin (Wilson). We work together like brothers. (On the break between the Rolex 24 and Round 2 at Barber Motorsports Park on March 31). There is so much stress getting ready for the Rolex 24, we'll need all that time to recover. Believe me, we really want this one badly." Ozz Negri, No. 60 Liveon.com Ford/Riley
"You don't come here to make friends. You come here to get the job done." Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 02 Target/TELMEX BMW/Riley
"Winning the pole is always special, but with this being the 50th Rolex 24 makes it a little more sweet for us - especially since we only had 45 minutes of track time before qualifying. Obviously, the car is capable of getting to the front. That makes my job a little easier. It's not often that the pole winner wins this race, but we've got a good chance if we can stay out of trouble. I always enjoy racing at Daytona - I consider this my home track." Ryan Dalziel, No. 8 Starworks Motorsport Ford/Riley, pole sitter for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24.
"It will take a near-perfect race to win. This is a big race, but with this being the 50th makes it even more special. This is the start of our championship, but this like a championship in itself." Ricky Taylor, No. 10 SunTrust Corvette Daytona Prototype
"My sense of joy is getting out of here in one piece and getting a good start to the year. We did not have much luck here the last two years." Jack Roush Jr., No. 61 Roush Performance Ford Mustang Boss 302 R, winner of the BMW Performance 200
Coming Up:
The 2012 Rolex Series season opens with the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona, with the green flag waving at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

This tube-frame chassis uses the bodywork from the BMW E92 M3 and the engine from the E39 M5. The #93 is a brand-new Riley Technologies chassis for 2011, assembled and built by Turner Motorsport in our race shop. The E92 M3 replaced the M6 GT chassis we raced with in 2010, which has since been retired from racing.

Thanks for explaining the difference between the GT and GS M3s - I was very confused this afternoon, and have been trying google to no avail.

I'm more into the Continental Sports Car series, but from what I can tell - you can only watch replays on speed the week after. Anyone know if there's live broadcasts for that series? Would love to be able to cheer in the BMW teams in real time.

As they were working on the 94 just a little while ago, did anyone notice that plenum cover was from an S62 M5 V8 engine instead of the E9x M engine. I know that the prototype and GT's had been using the old M5 engine, but I thought at the end of last year they had finally made the transition. Happy to see that the S62 is still doing well in racing.

Edit: I see in the post above that it is indeed the S62 engine. Why is it preferred engine? I know in stock format, it's a more torquey engine, but it's also an engine from a decade ago.

As they were working on the 94 just a little while ago, did anyone notice that plenum cover was from an S62 M5 V8 engine instead of the E9x M engine. I know that the prototype and GT's had been using the old M5 engine, but I thought at the end of last year they had finally made the transition. Happy to see that the S62 is still doing well in racing.

Edit: I see in the post above that it is indeed the S62 engine. Why is it preferred engine? I know in stock format, it's a more torquey engine, but it's also an engine from a decade ago.

It is because they have not changed the rules to allow the newer engine.... owned by NASCAR!

Here are the engines allowed in DP:

DAYTONA PROTOTYPES ENGINE ELIGIBILITY AND APPROVAL LIST as of 12/6/11
The following engines have been approved for competition in Daytona Prototypes.